CCW Permit Student Shot By Firearms InstructorSetup- A man was attending a firearms concealed carry permit class in the “may issue” state of California when he was “accidentally” shot by his trainer, a civilian firearms trainer for the Riverside County Sheriff, according to the source. The incident took place on August 10th as the trainee participated in the class at the Ben Clark Training Center Gun Range. The range is in Riverside, California. It is reported that, during an inspection, the instructor did a “trigger pull test” shooting the student in the leg.The student was transported to the hospital where he was treated for a non-life-threatening wound to the leg and the “accidental discharge” is being investigated by the Sheriff’s department and the training center where the incident took place.

Safety Violations- Rule #1 was violated “all guns are always loaded”. Rule #2 “never point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy” was violated. Pulling the trigger on an empty gun is a bad habit. If the gun has a hammer either decock or use the manual method to decock the firearm. Pulling the trigger should only be done while pointing at something you are willing to shoot as in Dry Fire practice. You could probably argue that rule #3 was violated “keep your finger off the trigger until you have acquired a target and decided to shoot”.

Remedy- Guns should be checked properly to determine if they are loaded or unloaded, and safety rules should have been followed. In either case, this instructor did not check the gun properly and then proceeded to violate several safety rules.

Conclusion- Apparently, students are instructed to unload their firearms at some point during the class and then inspected by this trainer. The instructor apparently didn’t check the condition of the firearm, pointed the gun at a human being, and then conducted a “trigger pull test” on that gun. Again, the instructor obviously did not check the condition of the gun he was given, shooting one of the students in the leg. Just because someone is in law enforcement or a firearms instructor doesn’t mean they are good or proficient with the tools of their trade. You must pay close attention to everything that goes on around you when firearms are involved. In training, at the gun show, or even in your favorite gun store.